Uh Oh: DeMatha Football, New Maryland Staff Have Already Established Poor Relationship

Cant provide the link now, but Josh Barr at the Post had a blog entry on Levenberry- his Dad was fired up that MD hadnt even talked to them. I dont know details, but a kid that Oklahoma is recruiting cant be that bad

does not play the aau game……..uh wait

but they better not compromise the relationship with Dematha bball…need Bee Jay Anya to be a terp!

just to show my UMD football face – crap, I’ll work for nothing on an “internship” and just scout away!

high school coach is amping this up. At 27, I would think you would have a little less ego and maybe try and cultivate the relationship from your side. After all Edsall has earned his stripes, not sure about the new coach at Dematha.

It’s obvious that no matter what he does, there will be people on both sides of the fence. I doubt very seriously that Randy would disrespect a program with a juggernaut of talent within a stones throw away without a reason. It’s not like he is playing solitaire on his PC to kill time.

Let the man do his job, his way. He’s the one that’s going to get stoned in public if all these changes and under the radar players don’t pan out. I for one, can’t wait to park my butt at Byrd and watch us destroy Miami.

otherwise, smh, just cut football and concentrate solely on men’s bball!

What have the Stages done for either Terps football or basketball in the last 25 years?

Eagles got Nnamdi!! WOOP WOOP!!

…all of this, so my response is only preliminary, pending more investigation.

One thing I will note is that Dematha has NEVER been a favorite of mine. In both football and basketball, we get their SECOND TIER prospects. Their best players go elsewhere. Very rarely do we get a FIRST TIER player out of Dematha. And that has grated on me for years.

Hey Dematha Coaches! Are you listening? We want to know why you don’t work with us more on getting your first tier players to come to MARYLAND!

All streets to both ways. You work with us, we’ll work with you.

looks like everyone including MD pulled a schoolie due to bad grades; DM coach decided to blame only Maryland rather than bad grades or confess all schools pulled schoolie.

I feel like I have to step in here, as someone who knows DeMatha pretty well.

It is NOT a high school coach’s job to steer players to or away from certain schools. What I have read so far in the comments insinuates that DeMatha coaches have steered their players AWAY from Maryland, which simply isn’t true. Many Maryland fans seem to believe that simply because DeMatha is so close, that we should be getting the lion’s share of their players.

Let me please explain something. Every 8th grader who comes to DeMatha with the hopes of playing basketball or football makes this decision as an all-or-nothing. They know that if they make the team, they are in a great position to continue playing the sport in college, but so very few make the teams. Stars at DeMatha tend to have their pick of schools, and many kids use that leverage to leave the area and establish their own identity.

In addition, DeMatha does NOT give out any athletic scholarships (and no, they do not give out any “wink-nudge” non-athletic scholarships). These young men and their families are willing to pay for the coaching and for the education. They know that the classes there are very difficult, and that they will not be given any special treatment. They know that simply making the team is tough, and they come out the other side better athletes, better students, and better young men.

(By the way, this is also very true at Good Counsel, Gonzaga, St. John’s, etc. I’m not trying to say that DeMatha is more morally upright than these other schools, just more so than the typical perception)

So, yes, being an athlete at DeMatha is an accomplishment, and is something to be proud of. This pride can manifest itself in many ways, but it typically comes out as the young man saying that he wants to create his own identity, in a new place, to prove to himself that he can be independent of the team name which helped make him the athlete he is. Maryland is not this change of scenery.

I do not want to come across like I’m preaching or lecturing, or that I am somehow special for knowing these people, but I do want to make something very clear. I do know both Coach Brooks and Coach Jones (basketball). Both of these men are incredible people who see themselves as teachers and mentors more than coaches. To say that they “have issues” is simply out of line.

I know all of us want every great player from everywhere to want to go to Maryland. We love UMD so much, so everyone else should share our joy, right? But please try not to judge people based on whether or not they care about Maryland on the same level we do. There’s a lot more thought and care put in these decisions than we are privy to.

Go Terps, go Stags

1) Yes, DeMatha recruited in the ‘60s and still does now. For every sport. It’s not illegal or immoral or against any spirit of any rules. It’s a private high school, so they recruit.

It IS unethical. And it WAS illegal in many forms and in the many ways it was and IS done.

2) Accusing one of the classiest men in basketball history of impropriety is false and not appreciated.

Morgan Whooten was as shady as the best of them behind the scenes. Oh yes, he’s got a great reputation with the media and with schools OTHER than Maryland. All I know is he stocked NC State and every other Maryland rival with talented players.

3) Why should Maryland "expect" a great source of players? Your argument seems to be "We should get the most players. Other schools take these players, and that sucks. So we should get the most players."

Why should Maryland expect that its citizens come to the state university? Why should we as a community think our sons should play for the home team? Go to the home school? You might not think sending kids to Penn State is a big afront to our school, I do.

4) Then, you say that it’s not the point that DeMatha tells players to go to other schools, but instead that DeMatha tells players to go to other schools…

Dematha does it’s best to send players away. They could very easily get them scholarships at Maryland.

5) DM coaches do (and should) care more about the kids’ futures than the enrichment of the local community. When what’s best for the kid matches up with "going to Maryland", that’s when the kid is encouraged to go to Maryland.

You might think sending kids to Iowa, and Alabama, and Penn State is in the best interests of these kids. And then you get on here and slam those institutions as corrupt and everything else.

You are nothing but a Dematha grad trying to defend your school. I’ve had enough of Dematha.

Dematha players are over-rated. Out of 11 NBA players that came out of Dematha none except for Adrian Dantley amounted to anything and he was never a winner. Dantley was probably not much better than Keith Booth playing in an era of smaller weaker players a 6’5" power forward could thrive in the NBA. UMD had 3 of the 11 players that played in the NBA. thats 30% and I’m sure thats more than any other school Jerod Mustaf was probably the highest rated recruit to ever come out and we got him. Of course Dematha players are usually poor students, soft players, sometimes have shockingly poor judgement. Mustaf appears to have murdered somebody. Branch had a drug arrest in college. Garrison was a big man afraid of contact and a poor student. Simpkins was drastically over-rated, pouted when he couldn’t compete at the highest level and had 450 parking tickets. Hawkeye whitney was convicted of kidnapping and went to jail. BFD…the players are not that important. In football UMD has gotten 2 of the 7 nfl players from Dematha and probably has their bets player ever in Tate. Thats fine. My alma mater Churchill High (hardly a football power) has had 4 NFL players and 2 were pro bowlers better than the Dematha players so its just fine getting Dematha’s 2nd tier players and developing them to contribute since their best players are usually over-rated and trouble. My apologies to the Dematha Grad because I think its a great school but I am not impressed with their graduates post-high school (except Tate). thank you very much, thank you very much and………..thank you very much.

By players with equal ability and better character.